Dr. Rossi’s guests this week are Karl and Cyndi Betz, a married couple who are experienced reptile keepers. This lively discussion included the responsibilities, dangers, and politics of keeping reptiles, as well as the psychological benefits on their children and family. An argument for keeping venomous snakes was presented by Karl, and Cyndi followed with an extremely informational segment on keeping and breeding Chinese Fox turtles. To learn more about this fascinating hobby, go to: http://www.venomousreptiles.org/ OR http://www.localityrosys.com/
Dr. Rossi also discussed how your pet’s lameness may not be arthritis, and in fact could be neuropathy associated with diabetes. He encourages you to have your veterinarian run blood work whenever your pet is lame. He then briefly discussed what great pets skunks make, and explained some of their captive requirements, including diet, vaccinations, etc… Next he shared recent information about scent-gland tumors in gerbils and how they are usually benign and surgical outcome. This led to a general discussion about tumors in rodents. Finally, Dr. Rossi repeated his concerns about Christmas decorations and your pets and how to keep them safe this season.
As always, Dr. Rossi’s series of pet health books, “What’s Wrong With My Pet?” is available on http://www.Amazon.com, http://www.iTunes.com and now http://www.BooksAMillion.com.

You can also find his original and very popular book on snakes, (the one that started it all, “What’s Wrong With My Snake?”) as well as his comprehensive work on snakes in Volume 1 and 2 of “Snakes of the United States and Canada,” and the updated Volume 3 which includes “Natural History and Care and Captivity,” a great reference resource for herpetologists AND reptile hobbyists.

And of course Dr. Rossi’s latest work, a collection of personal stories of the life of a vet in his latest, “All Things Cold and Slimy.” is available in multiple formats. If you love pets, go online or inquire with your local bookseller today!